Condor folders

The Condor is a series of Japanese 4.5×6 and 6×6 folders, made from 1939 to at least 1942 by the company Nissan Kōgaku Kōgyō-sha, that sometimes used the name Condor Camera Works. They were the successors of the very similar Victor folders.

General description

All the Condor folders share the same vertical folding body, inherited from the Semi Victor and Victor Six and copied from the large Baldax model for #0 size shutters. When held vertically by the photographer, the advance knob is at the top right and the folding optical finder is at the middle left. The body release is on the right of the viewfinder and the back is hinged to the left. It seems that all models have a single red window to control film advance (see below), situated at the bottom left of the back and protected by a vertically sliding cover. This single red window is the only visible difference between the early Condor models and the preceding Victor folders.

All the Condor models have a Deller Anastigmat lens.

Semi Condor and Condor Six

In 1939, the 4.5×6 Semi Condor (セミコンドル) and 6×6 Condor Six (コンドルシックス) replaced the Semi Victor and Victor Six. They were both featured in the new product column of the May 1939 issue of Asahi Camera. . They have a handle at the right end of the body, covering the back latch, and the back itself is opened by a small button situated behind. The Six is embossed Condor-Six in the front leather while the Semi is simply embossed Condor. The Condor Six exists in two versions: one has red window advance like the Semi Condor and is called the ordinary model (普及型), while the other adds an auto-stop film advance device and an exposure counter. This device is externally similar to the one mounted on the Plaubel rollfilm backs and on the Roll-Op II camera.

In advertisements by Nissan Kōgaku Kōgyō-sha dated September and October 1939, the following variants are offered, all having a variant of the Rulex shutter by Neumann & Heilemann:

body version	Semi Condor	Condor Six (ordinary)	Condor Six (exposure counter)
lens and shutter
Deller Anastigmat f/4.5, Rulex B	¥70	¥72	_
Deller Anastigmat f/4.5, Rulex A	¥78	¥80	¥86
Deller Anastigmat f/3.5, Rulex A	¥90	¥93	¥98

The shutter speeds are not specified, but a comparison with preceding and succeding versions indicates that the Rulex B is T, B, 5–150 and the Rulex A is T, B, 1–200 or 250. The Deller name has been observed on the lens engravings of a Semi Victor with Rulex D shutter and of a New Semi Condor with Koho shutter, but it is consistently written derutā (デルター) in the advertisements and McKeown gives both Delter and Deltar, perhaps by mistake.

The Condor Six was only offered in 1939. In late 1939, the Semi Condor was modified with a new type of back latch and no holding strap. An advertisement dated November 1939 offers this late variant of the Semi Condor, with the f/4.5 lens only. The shutter speeds are mentioned: T, B, 1–250 for the Rulex A and T, B, 5–150 for the Rulex B. This advertisement was inserted by the distributor Sanwa Shōkai and does not necessarily reflect the full range offered by the maker.

The Semi Condor was offered until 1940 and it still appears in an advertisement dated August 1940, side by side with the New Semi Condor, in the three variants already mentioned.

New Semi Condor

The New Semi Condor (ニューセミコンドル) gradually replaced the Semi Condor in 1940. There is an exposure table added on the back, the handle has disappeared and there is a new type of back latch, opened by a sliding bar.

Advertisements dated 1940 and 1941 by Condor Camera Works and Sanwa Shōkai show the following range of variants:

• f:3.5, Rulex A, (¥105 in 1940, ¥94 in 1941);
• f:3.5, Rulex B, (¥95 in 1940, ¥85 in 1941);
• f:4.5, Rulex A, (¥88 in 1940, ¥81 in 1941);
• f:4.5, Rulex B, (¥78 in 1940, ¥74 in 1941).

The top speed of the Rulex B had been upgraded to 1/200 by June 1940 and the top speed of the Rulex A to 1/300 by January 1941.

The New Semi Condor with 1–300 shutter speeds was sometimes offered as the New Semi Condor III, with f/4.5 or f/3.5 lens. This name appears for example in an advertisement dated May 1941 by the distributor Ueno Shōten (上野商店), overtly saying that the camera is reminiscent of the German Baldax.

The New Semi Condor was still offered in 1942. An advertisement by Sanwa Shōkai, dated March 1942, offers it together with the Semi Zeitax, a camera that is perhaps related (see the discussion in the Zeitax page). The following variants are listed:

• f/3.5 lens, Rulex A shutter, T, B, 1–300 speeds (¥108);
• f/4.5 lens, Rulex A shutter, T, B, 1–300 speeds (¥93).

An example of the New Semi Condor has been observed with a black accessory shoe added to the right of the viewfinder (maybe not original) and a Koho shutter giving 1–200, B, T speeds, made by Takachiho, of the variant mounted on the late Semi Olympus II. This variant of the Koho is not meant to be coupled with a body release, and it seems that a complicated linkage was added between the body release and the shutter release lever. The lens is a 7.5cm f:3.5 Deller Anastigmat. The case is embossed SEMI CONDOR. Another case for a Condor folder has been observed for sale, this time only embossed CONDOR.

The 17 exposure and 13 exposure feature

The Condor models are intermittently advertised as taking 17 exposures per film roll for the 4.5×6 version and 13 exposures for the 6×6. One advertisement dated September 1939 is titled "Red Window Revolution" (赤窓の革命). It says that the Semi Condor was one of the first cameras (at least in Japan) to make use of the '1' to '16' numbers printed in the rollfilm paperback for the 4.5×6 format, while at the time other similar cameras had two red windows and were using the '1' to '8' numbers intended for 6×9. The use of only one red window ensures a more regular frame spacing, thus sparing some film. The advertisement says that after taking the 16 exposures it is possible to advance one more frame by hand, without the help of the film numbers, to attain a total of 17 exposures.

The explanation about red windows is irrelevant for the 6×6 models, but in the same advertisement the exposure counter of the Condor Six is said to be designed for 13 exposures. This is strange because the advertisement published the month before in the same magazine only said 12 exposures for the Condor Six and 16 for the Semi Condor. It is unknown if the exposure counter was effectively modified or if all this was just marketing nonsense.

The method described was certainly very inconvenient, which is surely why the mention of 17 exposures was abandoned some months later. An advertisement dated August 1940 still mentions 17 exposures but another dated January 1941 says 16.

Bibliography

• Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7. Items 112–6. (See also the advertisement for item 118.)
• McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). Pp. 717 and 738.

The Condor folders are not listed in Sugiyama.